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National dish facts for kids

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Frans SNYDERS, The Pantry
Frans Snyders, The Pantry

A national dish is a culinary dish that is strongly associated with a particular country. A dish can be considered a national dish for a variety of reasons:

National dishes are part of a nation's identity and self-image. During the age of European empire-building, nations would develop a national cuisine to distinguish themselves from their rivals.

According to Zilkia Janer, a lecturer on Latin American culture at Hofstra University, it is impossible to choose a single national dish, even unofficially, for countries such as Mexico, China or India because of their diverse ethnic populations, cultures, and cuisines. Furthermore, because national dishes are so interwoven into a nation's sense of identity, strong emotions and conflicts can arise when trying to choose a country's national dish.

Latin American dishes

In Latin America, dishes may be claimed or designated as a "plato nacional", although in many cases, recipes transcend national borders with only minor variations. Preparations of ceviche are endemic in Peru and Ecuador, while a thin cut of beef known as matambre is considered close to being a national dish in Paraguay. Stews of meat, plantains, and root vegetables are the platos nacionales of several countries in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean: Colombian ajiaco, as well as the sancocho of the Dominican Republic, Colombia, and Panama, are examples of platos nacionales. Janer (2008) observes that this sharing of the same plato nacional by different countries calls into question the idea that every country has a unique national dish that is special to that country; she states that cuisine does not respect national and geopolitical borders.

The identification of Latin American national dishes is stronger among expatriate communities in North America. In Latin American countries, the plato nacional is usually part of the cuisine of rural and peasant communities, and not necessarily part of the everyday cuisine of city dwellers. In expatriate communities, the dish is strongly reclaimed in order to retain the sense of national identity and ties to one's homeland, and is proudly served in homes and restaurants. By this show of national identity, the community can resist social pressures that push for homogenization of many ethnically and culturally diverse communities into a single all-encompassing group identity, such as Latino or Hispanic American.

By country

This is not a definitive list of national dishes, but rather a list of some foods that have been suggested to be national dishes.

A

Empanadas argentinas fritas
Argentine empanadas
Wiener-Schnitzel02
Wiener schnitzel

B

Frites, fricandelle, mayo
Belgian frites with mayonnaise

C

Amok trey khmer
Fish amok, a national dish of Cambodia
Peking Duck 1
Peking duck, China

D

Smørrebrød at Kastrup IMG 8275 C
Danish smørrebrød

E

F

19-07-09-Karjalanpaisti-IMG 20190709 180453
Finnish Karjalanpaisti (Karelian hot pot)
Pot-au-feu SAM 2724
Pot-au-feu, national dish of France

G

H

Goulash in Prague
Gulyás

I

Tumpeng Kompas 1
Tumpeng, yellow rice cone surrounded with various Indonesian dishes. One of national dishes of Indonesia.

J

Sushi (1441234074)
Sushi, Japan

K

Korean.cuisine-Kimchi-Jeotgal-01
Korean Kimchi

L

Flickr - cyclonebill - Tabbouleh
Tabbouleh, Lebanon

M

Nasi Lemak, Mamak, Sydney
Nasi lemak, a national dish of Malaysia.

N

Dalbath
Dal bhat, Nepal

O

P

Pork adobo with shallots
Philippine adobo, a national dish of the Philippines

Q

R

S

Kräftskiva-2
Swedish crayfish called Kräftskiva

T

Tom yam kung maenam
Tom yum, national dish of Thailand

U

Traditional.Sunday.Roast-01
A Sunday roast—in this example, mashed potatoes, vegetables is a national dish of the UK - the addition of mini Yorkshire puddings here mark this variation as specifically English.

V

Y

Z

Gallery

Drink

National drinks

Main page: List of national drinks

A national drink is a distinct beverage that is strongly associated with a particular country, and can be part of their national identity and self-image. National drinks fall into two categories, alcoholic and non-alcoholic. An alcoholic national drink is sometimes a national liquor drank straight/neat (as in the case of whiskey in Ireland), but is most often a mixed drink (e.g., caipirinhas in Brazil and pisco sours in Peru and Chile), or beer or wine. Examples of non-alcoholic national drinks include tea for China, Coca-Cola for the US, lassis for India, mate for Uruguay, and kompot for East European nations.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Plato nacional para niños

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